DevSecOps Training: the common thread, from V0 to V11

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Hands-on DevSecOps training, driven by the dsoxlab CLI. This repository is the capstone of the DevSecOps course on www.stephane-robert.info, written as a common thread: a single project, notes-api, hardened version after version, one version per module of the course.

What it is

devsecops-dsoxlab-training is a content repository, not an application. It provides:

• a single project, notes-api, a small Flask service shipped with its flaws: a concatenated SQL query, a vulnerable dependency, a Dockerfile running as root, an over-permissive Terraform, no pipeline;
• labs whose starting point is the solution of the previous one, from V0 (a minimal pipeline) to V11 (the project's delivery metrics);
• automated validation that plays the learner's pipeline with act and judges what it produces, never the commands typed;
• an objective grid, the NIST SSDF: each version cites the practice it implements;
• a score with hints of increasing cost.

The dsoxlab CLI is the single entry point: it sets up a lab, shows the brief, validates, scores and reports. It lives in its own repository and is installed separately.

Requirements

• Python 3.11+ and uv
• git
• A Docker that answers (docker info): act plays the learner's pipeline in the ubuntu-24.04 runner image, pinned by digest.
• mise, which installs act 0.2.89, uv and Python at the versions of mise.toml (mise install). Any act release older than 0.2.86 is vulnerable to CVE-2026-34041 and CVE-2026-34042.

No VM or cloud account for the first versions: everything plays on the learner's machine, in runtime: shell. The versions that need a Kubernetes cluster or a VM will declare it in their lab.yaml.

Install

dsoxlab is published on PyPI and installs as a standalone tool:

# 1. Install the dsoxlab CLI (external tool, stays out of this repo)
uv tool install dsoxlab        # or: pipx install dsoxlab

# 2. Clone this lab catalog, and install its tools
git clone https://github.com/stephrobert/devsecops-dsoxlab-training.git
cd devsecops-dsoxlab-training
mise install

# 3. Check the contract is valid
dsoxlab validate-structure

Your first lab, in five minutes

dsoxlab list-labs                                # browse the catalog
dsoxlab run       capstone-v00-pipeline-minimal  # set up the starting state
dsoxlab challenge capstone-v00-pipeline-minimal  # read the mission
# ... you work in challenge/work ...
act push                                         # play your pipeline
dsoxlab check     capstone-v00-pipeline-minimal  # validate and score

run creates the lab's working directory and copies the declared fixtures into it. Everything then happens in challenge/work: it is the only place you modify, and dsoxlab clean removes it.

Stuck? dsoxlab hint <id> reveals a hint, whose cost is deducted from the score.

Keeping it up to date

git pull                       # the catalog
uv tool upgrade dsoxlab        # the engine
mise install                   # the pinned tools

The three evolve separately. A lab that fails after an upgrade of act or of the runner image is a defect of the catalog: open an issue, the form comes pre-filled by dsoxlab support --issue.

How it works

The engine, documented where it lives

This catalog is played by dsoxlab, which documents its own contract and commands. This README does not repeat them, so that it cannot drift when the engine changes (dsoxlab issue #201):

• the contract: meta.yml, lab.yaml, lab.<lang>.yaml, the runtimes and their fields: contract;
• the commands and the life of a lab, from run to check: commands and playing a lab;
• writing a lab, and what validate-structure checks: catalog author guide.

What is specific to this catalog: meta.yml carries the order of the versions, which is the order of play, and it is never reordered. tests/test_schemas_dsoxlab.py checks each lab.yaml against the schema published by dsoxlab.

Runtimes

Runtime	What the lab needs
shell + act	a terminal, Docker and the tools of mise.toml. The tests play your pipeline with act, on your project and on copies broken on purpose.

The validation model

Validation proves the state, it does not trust the learner. Each lab ships pytest tests under challenge/tests/ that play the pipeline with act and read what it produces: the job's result and the lines each step wrote. To see the pipeline fail when it must fail, a test modifies a copy of the project: a broken test, an injected secret, a vulnerable dependency. Your project is never touched.

And a lab is proven both ways: the tests must fail before the work, and pass after. scripts/verify-solutions.py --deux-sens checks it for every lab, and scripts/valider-labs.py attests it through the real dsoxlab commands in validation-labs.json.

The reference solutions live under solution/, encrypted with ansible-vault: a solution shipped in clear spoils the lab, and git keeps it forever.

The objective grid: the NIST SSDF

Each version cites, in its scenario, the NIST SSDF practice it implements: "SSDF practice targeted: PO.3". curriculums.yml holds the grid, its official source and the date it was last checked, and tests/test_curriculums.py refuses a code missing from the grid or a label that contradicts it.

Scoring, hints, progress

check records a score (tests passed over total, minus the cost of the hints revealed). Hints are base64-encoded in challenge/hints.yaml, so they are not read by opening the file, and their cost grows with their precision. The history lives in a SQLite database local to this repository.

Links to the guides

A lab's doc_url is the French lesson, because dsoxlab reads it. The links of the READMEs are computed: scripts/gen_doc_url_en.py reads the site's translationOf fields, and scripts/gen_catalog.py points the English README to the translation when it exists. tests/test_liens_par_langue.py refuses a link in the wrong language.

Catalog

The common thread: notes-api from V0 to V11

Lab (id)	Title	Level	Runtime	Companion guide
capstone-v00-pipeline-minimal	V0, a minimal pipeline: notes-api tested on every push	capstone	shell	guide
capstone-v01-modele-de-menace	V1, a threat model: STRIDE on notes-api, checked by the pipeline	capstone	shell	guide
capstone-v02-secrets-et-sast	V2, blocking secret scanning and SAST: two gates, and the injection fixed	capstone	shell	guide
capstone-v03-sca-et-triage	V3, dependency scanning and triage: fix what can be fixed, date what cannot	capstone	shell	guide
capstone-v04-identite-sans-secret	V4, an identity without a secret: OIDC instead of a stored key	capstone	shell	guide
capstone-v05-pipeline-durci	V5, a hardened pipeline: workflows audited, pull requests contained	capstone	shell	guide
capstone-v06-image-et-iac	V6, the image and the infrastructure: what you ship besides the code	capstone	shell	guide
capstone-v07-sbom-et-provenance	V7, SBOM and provenance: know what ships, prove where it comes from	capstone	shell	guide
capstone-v08-admission-signee	V8, admission: the cluster refuses what the platform did not sign	capstone	shell	guide
capstone-v09-runtime-cloisonne	V9, a contained runtime: restricted pods and closed network	capstone	shell	guide
capstone-v09b-detection-falco	V9b, runtime detection: Falco watches notes-api on a real machine	capstone	vm	guide
capstone-v10-vex-et-exceptions	V10, VEX and dated exceptions: every accepted finding is written down	capstone	shell	guide
capstone-v11-slo-et-dora	V11, measuring reliability: an SLO that pages, a runbook, the DORA metrics	capstone	shell	guide

13 labs, table generated by scripts/gen_catalog.py.

Contributing and license

Contributions are welcome: read CONTRIBUTING.md, which describes the real anatomy of a lab in this repository and the golden rule, a lab is proven both ways. The code of conduct applies to all exchanges, and vulnerabilities are reported privately: SECURITY.md.

License

This content is published under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). You may share and adapt it, including commercially, provided you credit the source.